PHONE THIHA KYAW

PhD Student, Robotics — University of Toronto

Phone Thiha Kyaw

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Portrait of Phone Thiha Kyaw

I am currently pursuing my PhD in Robotics at the University of Toronto Robotics Institute, working with Professor Jonathan Kelly in the STARS Laboratory. My research draws on ideas from differential geometry to advance motion planning and task-level behaviors, making robots move and act more intelligently and efficiently.

Previously, I worked in robotics at Dyson and LionsBot International, where I contributed to many autonomy software stacks and large-scale robotic deployments. I also conducted research at the ROAR Lab, Singapore University of Technology and Design under Professor Mohan Rajesh Elara, and earlier studied Mechatronics Engineering at Yangon Technological University under Professor Theint Theint Thu. I hold a first-class honours degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Portsmouth.

News

Recent updates & appearances
  1. Our paper on planning on Riemannian manifolds has been accepted to WAFR 2026! 🎉
  2. Our latest research on planning on Riemannian manifolds is now available on arXiv:
    paper | code
  3. I attended AAAI’26 in Singapore 🇸🇬!
  4. I officially transferred to the PhD program at the University of Toronto, continuing my work at STARS Lab under Professor Jonathan Kelly!
  5. A new arXiv version of Greedy RRT* is now available:
    paper | code
  6. I attended ROSCon’25 in Singapore 🇸🇬!
  7. I presented my planner Greedy RRT* at the 2025 Toronto Robotics Conference.
  8. I finally joined STARS Lab at the University of Toronto as a MASc student under Professor Jonathan Kelly 🎉🚀 Excited to keep exploring new ideas in robot motion planning!